The ugly duckling

丑小鸭

The country was lovely just then; it was summer!

乡下的夏天真美啊！

The wheat was golden and the oats still green;

小麦是金灿灿的，燕麦是绿油油的。

the hay was stacked in the rich, low-lying meadows,

绿色的牧场上随处可见成堆的干草，

where the stork was marching about on his long red legs,

鹳鸟正迈着又长又红的腿散步，

chattering Egyptian, the language his mother had taught him.

还不停的地讲着它从妈妈那儿学到的埃及话。

Round about field and meadow lay great woods, in the midst of which were deep lakes.

田野和牧场的周围有片大森林，森林里有些很深的池塘。

Yes, the country certainly was delicious.

的确，乡间的一切景色都是那么怡人，

In the sunniest spot stood an old mansion surrounded by a deep moat,

一条深深的小溪环绕着一座古宅。

And great dock leaves grew from the walls of the house right down to the water's edge,

巨大的叶子伸出墙外，甚至垂到了水面上。

some of them were so tall that a small child could stand upright under them.

有叶子吊得非常高，小孩子都可以直着腰站在下面。

In among the leaves it was as secluded as in the depths of a forest, and there a duck was sitting on her nest.

房子被围绕在浓密的枝叶之中，像是坐落在森林深处。河边有一只母鸭正坐在巢里，

Her little ducklings were just about to be hatched, but she was nearly tired of sitting, for it had lasted such a long time.

她的几个小鸭已经快要孵出来了。不过这时她已经累坏了。

Moreover, she ha d very few visitors,

况且，几乎没什么人来看望她。

as the other ducks liked swimming about in the moat better than waddling up to sit under the dock leaves and gossip with her.

比起跑到牛蒡叶下面来和她搭话，别的鸭子更喜欢在溪流里游来游去。　

At last one egg after another began to crack.

最后，那些鸭蛋一个接着一个地破壳了。

"Cheep, cheep!" they said.

“噼！噼！”蛋壳响起来。

All the chicks had come to life, and were poking their heads out.

小鸭子们一个个从蛋壳里探出了毛茸茸的脑袋。

"Quack! quack!" said the duck;

“嘎！嘎！”母鸭说。

and then they all quacked their hardest, and looked about them on all sides among the green leaves;

他们也就跟着嘎嘎地大声叫起来，在绿叶子下面不停地向四周打量。

their mother allowed them to look as much as they liked, for green is good for the eyes.

妈妈让他们尽情地东张西望，因为绿色对小鸭子的眼睛很有好处。